USGS and NASA scientists to speak about Mono Lake
April 25th, 2011 by Greg, Information & Restoration Specialist
Ever since NASA broke the news in December about the discovery of a bacterium from Mono Lake that appears to use arsenic in place of phosphorous, we’ve been talking fairly often with Dr. Ron Oremland, one of the lead scientists from the US Geological Survey working on the team. He has studied Mono Lake for decades and knows its microbes and chemistry well. He answered our questions about the discovery so that we could write an article about it in the Mono Lake Newsletter and accurately interpret it for the public, and he sent us a batch of his scientific papers related to Mono Lake and arsenic which we’ve posted on the Mono Basin Clearinghouse.
Ron will be speaking on Tuesday April 26th at the Sierra Nevada Aquatic Research Laboratory‘s Green Church (near the Mammoth-Yosemite Airport on Benton Crossing Road at Highway 395) at 7:00pm. The title of his talk is “Arsenic and the meaning of life.” He is an engaging speaker, and those attending should arrive early in order to get a seat. If you’d like a primer, here’s a video of Oremland giving a NASA Science Seminar on Arsenic and the Meaning of Life.”
Another scientist involved with NASA’s work in the Mono Basin is Dr. Pamela Conrad, who will be speaking on Saturday, June 18th during the Mono Basin Bird Chautauqua. Her evening talk, “Astrobiology in the field,” will focus on NASA’s use of Mono Lake as a testing ground for missions to Mars. There is still some room left in the event—sign up here. It costs just $60 to register for 1–3 events for the weekend.
